Hope We Can Count On
By Jessica Brodie
Hope is one of those tricky words, isn’t it? We use it so loosely—I hope to see you soon, I hope you get that promotion, I hope dinner’s on time.
Yet it’s a powerful word, too, one that conveys our desires, expectations, and inner fears all in one, like a superpowered wish we’re yearning will come true.
But when it comes to biblical hope, that yearning doesn’t need to feel desperate. For those whose hearts, minds, and souls belong to Jesus, the Bible reminds us we serve a God of hope (Romans 15:13), one who fills us with all joy and peace in believing. Biblical hope is the confident assuredness that what God promised will indeed come to pass. The strength of that hope is rooted firmly in God’s faithfulness and vast love.
Still, when what we hope for is heavy on our hearts, even the most faithful of us can stumble and struggle, weary in our longing for this thing, whatever it is, to come through. Perhaps we hope for a spouse after years of loneliness, or complete healing from the cancer ravaging our body. Perhaps we hope our prodigal child will return from a long season of rebellion, or for justice to prevail in a legal battle we endure. We put our hope in the Lord, yet in the quiet corners of our consciousness, that tiny seed of worry creeps in… will this ever happen? Is this God’s will in my situation?
This past weekend I was privileged to teach a workshop on fiction at my local writers group, Word Weavers. It’s a Christian writing group, and all who gather each month come from different levels—some just beginning, some longtime professionals, some fiction, some nonfiction, all eager to learn together how to make their writing as best as it can be for the glory of God. The daylong conference was great, but what hit me hardest was the introductory session led by my friend Lori Hatcher, an outstanding devotional writer and blogger. Lori shared five important kernels of hope for the struggling writer.
See, writers know quite a bit about what it means to wait in hope. We pour our hearts and minds out in a piece of writing, then send it to an agent or a publisher, hoping they’ll like it. Often, we get a lot more “no” than “yes” responses. Often, the waiting can be like torture… will my article ever get accepted? Will I ever get an agent? Will my book ever wind up on a store shelf?
Lori’s words on hope are not just for writers, though. They’re for us all… those on our knees waiting for someone to see them in their wretched situation and pull them out, those struggling with mental or physical battles that make every day a hardship, those praying God will come through with that job or that financial windfall so they can make it another day or week or year. They’re for anyone who ever longed for something and wondered, “Will my dreams ever come true?”
Life can be so difficult. Sometimes we cry out to God, pleading for him to end our pain or fix our broken situation, then wonder why it seems like there’s no answer. On dark days we worry he doesn’t care about us, or worry we’ve done something so terribly wrong that he’s leaving us out in the cold to suffer.
But the Bible promises us we do have hope in the Lord, and as Lori shared, here are five important truths that remind us our hope is truly rooted in fertile ground:
1. God will accomplish his will in your life.
Sometimes we get rejected. Writing aside, once I applied for a job that would have forced me to move across the state and into a different career. Even though I was qualified, I didn’t get it—or any of the five similar jobs I sought. The rejection hurt my pride and left me worried. Where did God want me? What was I supposed to be doing? Later, after that tumultuous time in my life had passed, it was clear: God didn’t want me in that career field. No wonder I didn’t get those jobs!
As Isaiah 46:9-10 proclaims, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please’” (NIV).
God will do what he intends.
2. God’s way is perfect.
God knows his purpose and his plan, but we don’t always see the plan through his lens. Maybe we get a glimpse, but only God sees the whole picture. But we can trust that his way and his plan are perfect. Things will work out exactly as they should according to God.
As the psalmist declares, “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 18:30).
However it works out, you can relax in the knowledge that God’s way is going to be better than anything we can imagine.
3. God’s timing is perfect.
God has his own sense of timing. As 2 Peter 3:8 reminds us, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
Maybe you tried with all your might to achieve that goal—but you didn’t succeed. You were certain you heard God urging you to go for it, but when the time came, nothing. Failure. Rejection.
We need to remember that God’s timing is perfect. Maybe he knew achieving that goal prematurely would have been disastrous, both for you and for all the other plans he intended. We can trust that God’s timing is going to be exactly right and absolutely perfect.
4. God’s plans can’t be thwarted.
Perhaps you prepared all week for an interview, only to wake up that morning with the stomach flu—and the job went to someone else. “I missed my chance!” you might wail, certain that if you’d just been able to rally the strength, you would have been celebrating instead of lamenting your situation.
But what God intends cannot be thwarted. As Job declares, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2-3). And as Isaiah 14:27, says, “For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
We can trust that the God of the universe, who created the very stars in the sky, will make happen whatever it is he plans. A stomach flu is no match for the Lord.
5. God’s word never returns empty.
As a writer, I’ve penned things I was certain God was going to use in a big way… only to get a rejection. I hear about pastors who spent all week preparing for their sermon, then on Sunday morning, only five people showed up. All that work, just for a handful.
But we never know how God is using us, or what he intends. For out of that handful, perhaps there was one person who desperately needed to hear that message.
As God decrees in Isaiah 55:10-11, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
My friends, the Bible and its promises apply to every soul on earth, past and present. There is no exception to the truth. In Romans 8:38-39, the apostle Paul says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul didn’t say, “Everyone except Jessica, because her sins were so bad she’s excluded.” He said nothing—nothing!—will be able to separate us from the love of God. Us, you and me. All of us.
God might not answer prayers the way we want him to. But he does hear us, and he does love us. Indeed, as 1 John 4:16 tells us, God is love. He will accomplish his will in your life. His way and his timing are perfect, his plans can’t be thwarted, and his word never, ever, ever returns empty.
Amen. Thanks be to God!
If you want to learn more about Lori and the encouragement she offers through her writing, go to https://lorihatcher.com.
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